Amelia Bloomer vs. Fanny Crosby

Much to the relief of the entire Lent Madness global public, the Supreme Executive Committee has reconciled — temporarily — which means the Saintly Smackdown will proceed after Saturday’s all-t00-real April 1st scare. Yes, there WILL BE a 2017 Golden Halo winner.

So let’s get back to the holy business of saintly competition! Today, we continue with the final matchup of the Saintly Sixteen as Amelia Bloomer faces Fanny Crosby. To get to this round, Amelia dispatched Philipp Melanchthon while Fanny got the best of G.F. Handel. The winner will join seven other saintly souls to make up the Elate Eight. Who will Amelia or Fanny be joining? Just to refresh your memory, that would be Stephen, Augustine of Canterbury, Franz Jaggerstatter, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Raymond Nonnatus, Martin Luther, and Florence Nightingale. One of this group will, soon enough, be crowned in (extra special) glory.

Amelia Bloomer

Amelia is remembered in the church as a woman who saw women as equal and valued members of the body of Christ. She worked tirelessly in her life to invite the Church and the State to recognize the dignity of women. She was a journalist, voting rights advocate, and temperance leader, among her many roles.

Amelia Bloomer began her prophetic ministry in the temperance movement. She saw the results of alcohol consumption — violence, men squandering their pay on alcohol instead of food, and health issues. She wanted it eradicated from all aspects of society, including food. She responded to criticism made by a prominent wife of an elected official that one could not bake holiday treats without the addition of brandy, saying, “That lady must be a wretched cook indeed who cannot make apple dumplings, mince pie, or cake palatable without the addition of poisonous substances.”

She advocated for less-restricting fashions for women, seeing the style of the day as oppressive and damaging. When criticized by men for advocating for women wearing the style of pants that would bear her name, bloomers, she quipped, “Let men be compelled to wear our dress for awhile and we should soon hear them advocating a change.”

Amelia worked tirelessly for suffrage, and she pushed for the right of women to hold elected offices. Her mind and wit, quick and sharp, frequently pointed out the absurdities of the arguments for the continued disempowerment of women in government. Women, argued the majority of elected male leaders of the day, were created to submit to laws, not to make them. She countered, “It will not do to say that it is out of woman’s sphere to assist in making laws, for if that were so, then it should be also out of her sphere to submit to them.”

She added, to the clergy who argued gender discrimination was God’s holy will, “Man represents us, legislates for us, and now holds himself accountable for us! How kind in him, and what a weight is lifted from us! We shall no longer be answerable to the laws of God or man, no longer be subject to punishment for breaking them.”

In her newspaper The Lily, Amelia created a forum addressing serious issues concerning women, and gave them a voice. Bloomer said of her paper, ”It is woman that speaks through The Lily. It is upon an important subject, too, that she comes before the public to be heard.”

The forum she gave to women to speak, to be heard, and to be empowered continues to nurture all who demand dignity. Her words still ring true, and still challenge us.

Fanny Crosby is easily given the appellations of “mother of modern American congregational singing” and “Queen of Gospel Song Writers.” Her more than eight thousand hymn texts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries make her among the most prolific hymn writers of all time. More remarkable than her myriad compositions is that she wrote all of her hymns while blind.

Far from seeing her blindness as a burden and affliction, Crosby noted that “it seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow, I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.” Indeed, her faithfulness required no sight: “if I had a choice,” she said, “I would still choose to remain blind… for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed savior.”

Hymn-writing for Crosby wasn’t a matter of making money, or earning a living. She noted that she always began her work in prayer: “I never undertake a hymn without first asking the good Lord to be my inspiration.” Evidently the work of working and re-working lyrics didn’t burden Crosby, either. “It is not enough to have song on your lips,” she said, “you must also have a song in your heart.” Crosby’s prayerfulness was not without practicality, though – and while her hymns have often been criticized for being overly sentimental, one can’t deny the honesty she brought to her own life of prayer: “God will answer you prayers better than you think,” she wrote. “Of course, one will not always get exactly what he has asked for….We all have sorrows and disappointments, but one must never forget that, if commended to God, they will issue in good….His own solution is far better than any we could conceive.”

But of the words all the words Fanny Crosby may have written, it is her hymns that have stirred the hearts of millions of Christians in the United States and around the world. Her best known hymn, “Blessed Assurance,” speaks of the promise found in following Jesus:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Amelia Bloomer: The image is from the National Park Service. Here’s the tag – in May 1851 Amelia Bloomer introduced Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton as depicted in the life-sized bronze figures sculpted by Ted Aub. In “When Anthony Met Stanton” as in real-life, Bloomer and Stanton are wearing the “Bloomer Costume” which bloomer publicized in “The Lily.”

Likewise! We use gospel and bluegrass music at our services and, although raised in a High Church tradition, have grown to enjoy the direct simplicity of the music. Threes no mistaking the message. Hang on Fanny, there may be another “late surge” at the end!

Always for me a hard choice when putting two women against each other. With so few women vs so many men, I would hope next year they would not pair up two women but maybe give the women more of a chance by pairing them with a man.

Remember that both of these women got to this matchup by beating men. But two of the initial matchups did pit women against each other. I wonder how the SEC decides on those initial contests – it can’t just be puns, can it?

‘Tis the gift to discover the true gifts we’ve been giv’n.
‘Tis the gift to offer all we have to Heav’n.
To serve as we have talent in each happenstance
is joyous joining in holy dance.
When we receive with heart and mind,
The longings and wisdom that God has designed,
And pour out the insights of our deepest souls,
We honor God and reveal God’s love.

She bloomed in a time when women were maligned;
Were seen as weak and frail with feeble minds.
She wrote and she published and she dressed with sense.
In face of scorn she persisted yet.
Thank God for strong Amelia
Who saw what was wrong and who worked to call
Attention of the public to iniquity.
Her work did much to set women free.

A woman with blindness – only in her eyes –
Still exercised her vision true and wise.
Aunt Fanny heard the music in her heart and soul,
With prayer she wrote lyrics that still ring forth.
When with our inward eyes we see
Assurance of God’s gen’rous blessings free,
Like her we can choose to share the joy
Of wondrous love that can never cloy.

Praise to God the Creator, pouring forth with love
From the depth of Being all that e’re becomes.
Praise to God the Redeemer; with us lived and died,
And rose again e’en though crucified.
Praise to the Spirit flowing free
Who guides, sings and is creativity.
Sing praise to God Who Is Community
The Three in One and the One in Three.

It depends on the day, Harlie. Sometimes they just flow. Sometimes it’s hard work. Always its joy and prayer. I can’t begin to express what a gift it is when a song finally comes together and gives glimpses of what my heart is feeling. So glad you find pleasure in them, too.

I agree! I voted for Amelia for that reason and in memory of my grandmother, a lifelong member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. She saw firsthand the effects of alcohol on the lives of rural and small-town women. They weren’t allowed to work except on the farm, and were dependent on the men who drank away the money and frequently were violent. Many times she walked to the next farm to help her neighbor deal with her alcoholic husband. This one’s for Carrie.

There was no question in my mind this morning: Amelia all the way! We cannot fully appreciate the change in status for women as equal children of God that she advocated. Just imagine what it was really like not to be able even to vote! Fanny’s theology (God wanted her to be blind??) is extremely distasteful to me.

I understood her statements about her blindness as a rejection of ableism, not theology. Remember that until very recently, people who were blind were seen as objects of pity, unable to work or live fully. (My son-in-law, whose parents were both blind, told us once that more than once our state’s Child Protective Service was called in on his family, solely because the caller was sure two blind people couldn’t adequately care for a child.) Sure, the statements are couched in terms that don’t sound great to 21st century ears, but I hear the same underlying statement that I hear with deaf communities seeing themselves as a culture, and not needing to be “cured”.

It’s interesting how differently people can read the same statement – I read Fanny as saying that she (even blind) was fearfully and wonderfully made, made in the image of God and not in need of healing. For me, that’s an incredibly powerful statement.

What a terribly hard choice. Thank you, Diana, for “blindness–only in her eyes.” And Blessed Assurance is the song living in my head these days. But as a journalist, although one who thinks fruit cake without brandy is tasteless, I had to vote for Amerlia.

What a terribly hard choice. Thank you, Diana, for “blindness–only in her eyes.” And Blessed Assurance is the song living in my head these days. But as a journalist, although one who thinks fruit cake without brandy is tasteless, I had to vote for Amelia.

“We shall no longer be answerable to the laws of God or man?”
Amelia might have been a great feminist, but I didn’t hear much about God or Christ in her life.. at least in today’s description… which seems to me part of what saintliness is about. So sorry, can’t go for Amelia… which leaves Fanny by default.

Isn’t being a ‘saint’ about living a life of Christian Faith? Many have pursued social justice issues without a faith basis. Amelia’s relationship to our Lord is what? It appears that her faith is known to God alone. Fanny on the other hand’s is clear. When she prays, God doesn’t say “who is this really?” Biography of my 2nd Great Grandfather reports that he was a fan of her works.

If the bracket were arranged differently, these two could have been head to head for the Golden Halo. I go with Fanny Crosby. Her impact on the Episcopal Church as well as the greater church is sung every Sunday in many different parts of the country.

My vote for Fanny stems in part from the hymns I heard as a child. Our congregation sang many “sentimental” hymns about Jesus and His Glory, Jesus and His Love” and I have remembered those words to this day.
They give me great comfort in these troubled times.

I went with Fanny. Besides what was mentioned above, for this story: it’s reported that during the Civil War, Fanny Crosby was at a hotel restaurant a wearing a rather large Union favor (apparently a pin with bunting or some such.) A lady with Southern sympathies walked up to her and told her to “take off that filthy rag”. Fanny promptly stood up, squared her fists, and said “say that again”. (I imagine so she knew where to punch.) Restaurant staff had to intervene. This story reminded me so much of my son-in-law’s late mother, who was also blind and similarly feisty, that it swayed my vote. (Also, the sneer at booze in food turned me against Amelia. My speciality dish is pork chops cooked with Jack Daniels.)

I gave Fanny kind of short shrift in the Round of 32 in her contest with Georgie Fred, so I’m giving her another chance this time. Bloomer’s advocacy of women’s rights is certainly commendable, but her categorical condemnation of any use of alcohol whatsoever is a little too draconian.

I’m not a teetotaler, but I’ve seen families suffer and people die from alcohol abuse, so I do understand Amelia Bloomer’s vehemence. The brandy-in-pie remark might go too far, but if you’ve seen the face of a man whose son drank himself to death, you can imagine being a bit extreme.

As an aging choir boy…must vote for Fanny…her achievement a lasting one. While Amelia had a way with words, they were more political than poetic…had the uneasy sensation she would have served well on the editorial board of the Globe

Love both of these ladies but I had to go with Amelia for
her logical arguments for women’s equality. My paternal
grandmother was a seamstress and was very much for
women’s equality, too. I bet she would have loved bloomers.
Lastly, she and I share “Amelia” as our middle name!

“What does the Lord require of you … to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Only God knows the true nature of someone’s relationship with Him. But we all can see if someone is fighting for justice. So it’s Amelia for me.

Two good candidates today so I will not be disappointed with either winner. That being said, I voted for Amelia because of her activism and wit for women’s equality. As a woman I am grateful to her and other women who have made it easier for me!

I was in a quandary on this one. I am 76 and spent almost half of my life teaching at a college for women. On the other hand, I was raised on Fannie’s hymns. It came down to this: in my later years I have come to question some of the theology in the hymns, the one cited in particular. Is Jesus mine? Do I somehow own him? Shouldn’t it be “I am His”? So because of the theology, and my wife’s strong opinion, I am going with Bloomer.

Phil, you raised an interesting question. Thinking about it sent me into the question of relationship which sent me to a camp song. The lyrics go “I’m my beloved and he is mine; his banner over me is love.” Jesus gives himself to us in every way, including in Holy Communion, in prayer, on the Cross. At the same time we belong to Jesus, which FC celebrated: “Praising my Savior all the day long”. It’s one of the most incredible realities we celebrate as Christians – this all out Grace that enables a two-way relationship. Would be interested in your further thoughts on this.

I am sad that Fanny is lagging behind. I grew up singing her hymns and still they drift in and out of my spiritual landscape like dear friends, always there at the right time. Physically blind, but spiritually a true visionnary.

According to: Amelia Bloomer, a Biography by Louise Noun (published in The Annals of Iowa (State Historical Society of Iowa) Volume 47 | Number 7 (Winter 1985) pps. 575-617): [Elizabeth Cady] Stanton and [Amelia] Bloomer traveled in different social circles and their interests diverged significantly. Stanton was a member of the social elite of Seneca Falls; Bloomer was not. Stanton was a freethinker who disregarded the Sabbath; Bloomer was a devout Episcopalian who attended church twice each Sunday.

I would have been happy for either of these women to move into the Elate 8, but I did vote for Amelia.

Oh, come on people! What self-respecting Whiskipalian could vote for an advocate of temperance? As much as I admire Amelia’s political truths, the long-lasting hymnody of Fanny rings true. Fanny for the win!

I went with Amelia Bloomer, even though I believe God is OK with our having cake with brandy in it. Today’s parallel to the alcoholism Bloomer was striving against would be opioid addiction. We need both music and healthcare in our world, and universal enfranchisement.

As a lover of wine, and a history major who knows of the horrors of brought on by prohibition, I can’t vote for Amelia bloomer. Just because something is abused, does not mean you get rid of it. Besides, Jesus did turn that water into grape juice. Fanny seems like a more positive person. I am a Lion; and Lions are Knights of the Blind. So, Fanny, you got my vote

I find it helpful in this second round to go back and reread the first round discussion of the two candidates. For instance, today several folks have questioned whether Amelia Bloomer had Christian motivations for her advocacy of women’s rights. The first round description makes it clear that she did: “Amelia was a devoted Episcopalian, challenging clergy who opposed women’s rights. Her Christian faith was fuel for her commitment to moral and social change….”

Both are strong women with deeds and achievements to recommend them, and both have a documented history of firm-grounded faith. This choice is difficult.

I do think alcohol has its place in some recipes. We make coq au vin, not coq au eau, and fruitcake keeps better (and tastes better IMHO) with a slug of brandy in the batter and more sprinkled over the cake. However, it’s not that difficult to cook without it if you are cooking for someone who can’t or won’t consume alcohol. Amelia was right on that count.

While I don’t much agree with the temperance movement, I’m going for Amelia. If American winemaking had been then what it is now she might have changed her mind! I remember being allowed to wear pants to school only in the winter, so the fight for pants was not yet won even during my lifetime. And Handel’s loss to Fanny still stings!

When I was a college student, more than 50 years ago, I was allowed to wear pants to class one time in four years, when the Dean of Women decreed that because the temperature was minus 28 degrees Fahrenheit that morning, women could wear pants instead of a skirt that one day. Although I have a sentimental attachment to Fanny’s hymns and voted for her the first round, I voted for Amelia today. I just happen to feel especially feisty today, and her remarks about women’s equality resonated with me. I did remember that she was a devout Episcopalian. Sometimes people have to take extreme positions, such as no booze in the recipes, in order to be heard and to achieve something.

Well said regarding dress. Until I was a junior in high school, girls were not allowed to wear pants to school. Hard for younger women to imagine this. Also, I agree the comment that opiate addiction addiction is today’s comparison for alcohol use.

“A gift of song is a gift of love.” Those old hymns are a gift to my soul. So I voted for Fanny J Crosby. I think Ms Bloomer was pretty uptight (no brandy in plum pudding?), so I vote for JOY over stern austerity.

I could not vote for Fanny first round as not even the best of gospel hymns could outweigh the Messiah. And music is a very important part of worship for me. But I did vote for Fanny this time. Amelia fought for social changes, but if we choose saints for spirituality, then I would had to go with Fanny. Blessed Assurance is fine, but she wrote some other hymns which I like much better and might not be as annoying to those who express a distaste for gospel hymns. Check out Near the Cross and especially the beautiful To God Be the Glory.

I vote for Bloomer. Here is the problem: “Deuteronomy 22:5 “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.” The introduction of “bloomers” by Amelia caused some problems. For example, “Some young women were denied church membership for wearing the (“Bloomer”) dress.”, New York Daily Tribune, reprinted in Lily, July 8, 1851, p. 6. Problems continute to this day. “A United Airlines gate agent barred two girls from boarding a flight Sunday morning because the girls were wearing leggings.” See what Amelia started!! You go girl!!!!!

For my mother-in-law, whose life we are remembering and celebrating this week, who lost her vision (one of the last things she did before her vision was completely gone was to re-read the entire Bible) and was so looking forward to receiving new eyes, and who loved the old hymns . . .
For my multi-lingual church in which “Blessed Assurance” is one of the few hymns that all of us know in our own heart languages and can sing in one voice . . .
Fanny.

Having sat at the same pipe organ where Fanny played “At the Cross” at the Bowery Mission in NYC, I had to give her my vote. I love how she saw her blindness not as a burden but as an avenue through which to bless so many. As her hymn goes, “It was there (at the cross) by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day!”

The adolescent male (my wife tells me this phrase is a redundancy) in me has to note the pairing of Fanny with Bloomer. Both gifted women who put their faith into action. Just because I’m more familiar with her story, my vote goes to Ms. Crosby.

I truly appreciate the contributions Amelia Bloomer made to the women’s movement and admire the strong stand she made on issues surrounding equality for women. I am a grateful recipient of her work to secure equal rights for women under the law.
I also admire Fanny Crosby for her incredible faith and her earnest lifelong desire to share it with the world through her hymns. I am also a grateful recipient of her work to invigorate Christianity by penning songs about Jesus for a hurting world.

Because Fanny’s lyrics have and continue to spread the Gospel so beautifully, she gets my vote. Her songs are indelibly etched on my heart and I commend this song of praise to you today – vote for Fanny!!!

In a class on Anglicanism taught by Archbishop Carey at Notre Dame, he declared that he mentioned no women in his discussion of our history and life because no women had done anything worth mentioning as Anglican leaders. I responded by writing my research paper on a British woman whose hymns had been much more popular (and undoubtedly more effective in promoting her theology) than any male theologian he’d spoken about. In honor of unnoticed (by archbishops, anyway) women who have been there in Anglicanism all along, teaching and leading, I voted for Fanny Crosby.

Marjorie, I’m sitting here all but speechless at what Archbishop Carey said. I love your response – practical, to the point and incredibly powerful. What did he have to say about your paper? Do you have what you wrote in electronic form that you could share? So proud of you. You were presented with ignorant arrogance, yet you persisted!

Diana – Archbishop Carey gave me an A on the paper, but didn’t seem to realize that I was responding to his assertion that women had never contributed anything to Anglicanism. Reminds me of seminary, where ECW was never mentioned in class, but the wives of male students worked together to prepare for the power they expected to have in ECW as clergy wives. Invisibly, of course.
Guess which seminary I attended!
Grrrrrrr.

Had to go with Amelia, whose strength and character helped to change things for the better for women. A trailblazer during very hard times. I think we can bolster our own stregth through her example during these hard times of division and heartlessness in our politics.

In the days before there was an income tax, the federal government made most of its money in taxing alcohol. The result of that was what triggered the whole temperance movement, and subsequent ban on alcohol. So I don’t blame Amelia for being against booze. She’s my choice. I don’t find any of Fanny’s hymns in my hymnal , which is very old.

In another era I might have picked Fanny, but right now, the idea “perfect submission” is on the rise in distorted and awful ways; our call in this time and place, is to be fighters like Amelia rather than pietists like Fanny.

Never mind that Amelia’s zeal, directed at alcohol, led to the horrors of prohibition. Today, I imagine, with that lesson available, she would attack it in less clumsy ways. I have seen what alcohol did to someone in my family, and to that person’s marriage; and what happens when marriage to an alcoholic is combined with “perfect submission” to what is falsely cast as God’s will — rather than intelligent self-preservation in the name of justice.

Went with Fanny, but have no trouble with Amelia going all the way. Still looking for the other names Fanny had to use to get all her hymns published. Would love to see a hymnal of all of Fanny’s hymns.

Fannie Crosby’s hymns reach the evangelical hymn lovers as well as SOME high church Anglicans ! I still get chills singing/hearing VICTORY IN JESUS (NOT FANNIY’S) and the last line: “He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.” Hoo Boy ! Just saw a High Churcher cross herself and mutter something in Latin !

Scott and Tim, you are examples to us all. Your hard work of reconciliation is a true sign of grace – and whiplash. From total breakup to a resurrection of the SEC team in three days is – well – all but unbelievable. Fortunately there are precedents. I’d use the A-word, but it’s still Lent.

I had to vote for the Temperance leader to honor my mother, who devoted much of her life to teaching young people the value of temperance so their lives would not be destroyed as had the lives of her brothers.

Even though I am a musician, I am more in the Classical tradition and do not care for the gospel hymns. Plus, belonging to a church with 2 female pastors, I feel we owe Amelia a great deal. Amelia gets my vote!

Though an Episcopalian and a priest, I grew up Pentecostal and still love the old timey Gospel hymns. Simply to be reminded of her wonderful text, “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine” secured my vote. It links in my mind with the words of our baptismal liturgy, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”. Truly, “this is my story, this is my song….”

“Oh, what a happy soul I am,
although I cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.

How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don’t,
To weep and sigh because I’m blind
I cannot, and I won’t!”

– Fanny Crosby, Age 8

After looking into Fanny’s bio more deeply on my own, I had to go with her. She not only had sexism to deal with (inferred), but ableism as well. And she took it in stride. Luckily, I won’t be too devastated if Amelia wins as I hold her in high esteem and owe her much. Hard choice.

Whether Amelia was outwardly religious or not, she worked for equality and justice. When my grandmothers were young adults, they could not vote. My mother was born before women could vote. Amelia get my vote.

My first name is a traditional family name, but my middle name of Carol, is not. When I questioned my now-departed mother why Carol, she responded that she always wanted me” to have a song in my heart”.In her memory and honor I voted for Ma. Crosby.

Fanny Crosby gets my vote again. I admire Amelia Bloomer’s accomplishments, but she strikes me as more of a secular hero who happened to be a faithful church member. Mind you, I’m not judging her motivation or the sincerity of her faith…it’s just that most of what she did could have been done by a talented, dedicated non-Christian. I’m also disappointed that she received more votes than Melanchthon, my personal Reformation hero…but I’ll try not to let that be the reason for my vote. 😉

Didn’t vote for either in the first round. (Too much of a music lover not to go with Handel, also voted for Melancthon as the patron saint of sidekicks and second bananas.)

Voted for Amelia Bloomer this time, because of her strong advocacy of women’s equality.

I saw her involvement in the temperance movement as a drawback, though. In my view, the fact the temperance movement promoted abstinence – rather than intelligent drinking – as the only alternative to problem drinking led to a situation in most English-speaking countries in which a high level of binge drinking is found in a high proportion of those who choose to drink. And the main long-term effect of Prohibition in the US was to entrench organised crime as an influential institution in the wider society. (I think Ms. C. would have had similar opinions to Ms. B., however, so the temperance thing was a non-issue for me in the end, really.)

I also had large problems with Ms. Crosby’s hymns. Yes, they’re written to catchy, heart-warming tunes, but I think the words of what we sing in worship are also as important as the tunes. Do we really believe that a Jesus-shaped God would consign people to be fuel for an eternal BBQ … just for getting their theology wrong? Do we really believe that a Jesus-shaped God would demand a substitutionary blood sacrifice as the only alternative to being fuel for an eternal BBQ? These are the messages that Ms. C.’s hymns convey.

I believe that God is Love … radical, unconditional Love! I see Ms. C. as putting far too many conditions on God’s love.

Sentiment can be treacherous, but sometimes I see it a a God-given guide when decisions are tough. When I thought of “Blessed Assurance I remembered my devout father-in-law, whose love of “Blessed Assurance ” prompted my equally devout but also liberal, service-oriented husband, John, to request it for his funeral. And in proud continuation of John’s advocacy for persons with disabilities. our granddaughter Moira, eight years old, just taught herself Braille so she could teach blind children. Thanks be to God!

Oh I’m so disappointed! Although Amelia is a worthy soul, my heart and vote was for Fanny. Her saying “the first face [she] would see will be that of Jesus,” brought tears to my eyes. And Blessed Assurance remains my favorite hymn. What a love-filled beautiful soul she was!

Grateful beyond measure for the incomparable efforts of Amelia Bloomer. Yes, she truly is a saint. However, the God-inspired words given to Fanny Crosby for hymns that speak to the soul cause me to vote for Fanny. I’m a church organist, who didn’t grow up singing Fanny’s songs in my Episcopal church. However, somewhere along the way, I married another organist (Episcopalian) who grew up Southern Baptist. I learned from him to cherish the hymns of Fanny Crosby. Now, playing for a small UCC congregation, I have personally witnessed the transforming power of her songs.

Inspired by the debate over temperance, I remembered that last year we were given a recipe for a “Yellow Fever” cocktail in honor of the nuns who fought yellow fever in the south. Believe it or not, there is a “Suffragette” cocktail from 1909, and I have paired it with a 1920 non-alcoholic “prohibition classic,” so that we may continue to debate theology in a civilized manner.

Here’s the Original Suffragette Cocktail printed originally in the San Francisco Call. “The suffragette cocktail is the newest American drink,” the San Francisco Call wrote on July 4, 1909. “Any other kind of a cocktail makes a man want to go home and beat his wife. The new drink has exactly the opposite tendency. . . . One makes a man willing to listen to the suffragettes’ proposition. Two convince him that it has some merit. Three make him a missionary, willing to spread the gospel abroad, and four make him go home and wash the dishes.”

Here’s the recipe: “Cilo gin, French vermouth and Italian vermouth in equal parts to make a gill, mix in a cocktail glass, add a dash of orange bitters, twist in two strips of lemon peel and serve.”

(According to dictionary.com, a “gill” is ¼ pint. I do not know if that is the sense here.)

For those “equally attractive non-alcoholic options” required by forward-thinking dioceses and vestries, try this simplified peach syrup from Bertha Stockbridge’s 1920 prohibition classic “What to Drink”: simmer 10oz of peach slices with 8oz of water and 8oz of sugar for 30 minutes, then strain.

Whichever option you choose, know that you’ll be invigorated to debate the trinity with St. Athanasius (old “Contra Mundum” himself, whom we denied the Golden Halo previously). Enjoy. Though we might not be eating meat or chocolate during Lent, no one said we couldn’t have a cocktail.

As the daughter of one alcoholic, the sister of another and acquainted with many others both active and recovering, I have a lot of sympathy for the heart behind the Prohibition movement. It didn’t serve its purpose, addiction and greed being what they are, but the goal is understandable. That being said, I’m still awaiting a last moment surge of genuine votes for courageous, vulnerable, feisty, loving songwriter Fanny Crosby.

This was a conundrum since I voted for both ladies in the first round. While Amelia did great things, mostly she worked in the political realm. Fanny’s hymns were great works of faith. So I voted for the lady of faith.

I envy those of you who grew up in the Episcopal Church. I only came to it about 20 years ago. I grew up a Southern Baptist. I must confess I enjoyed Fanny Crosby’s hymns. They are easily singable. I love our TEC hymnal, which I think has hymns that are more beautiful and have more depth. But if you remember Fanny’s hymns with some affection, you might want to check out this site. I’ve sorted it in order of the frequency of the use of the hymns. It’s kinda her Hit Parade. http://www.hymnary.org/person/Crosby_Fanny?sort=desc&order=Instances

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